# An ovarian cancer blood test aims at the precancer stage: Tu-Stroma flags lesions surgeons find only by chance - Published: 2026-11-10 (updated 2026-11-10) - Author: [Healthcare News](https://healthcarenews.io/author/healthcarenews-io.md) - Topics: [News](https://healthcarenews.io/news.md) - About: [Hoag](https://www.hoag.org/), [Blood-based RNA biomarker for the early detection of ovarian cancer](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04732-9) - Based on: [Researchers Discover Blood-Based Warning Signal for Ovarian Cancer at its Earliest, Precancerous Stage](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/11/10/3399264/0/en/researchers-discover-blood-based-warning-signal-for-ovarian-cancer-at-its-earliest-precancerous-stage.html), GlobeNewswire, 2026-11-10 - Based on: [Blood-based RNA biomarker for the early detection of ovarian cancer](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04732-9), Nature Medicine, 2026-11-10 - Based on: [Cancer Stat Facts: Ovarian Cancer](https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/ovary.html), National Cancer Institute SEER Program - Based on: [Ovarian Cancer: Screening](https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/ovarian-cancer-screening), U.S. Preventive Services Task Force - Based on: [Serous Tubal Intraepithelial Carcinoma (STIC): A Review of the Literature on the Incidence at the Time of Prophylactic Surgery](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11592719/), PubMed Central - Source: https://healthcarenews.io/news/ovarian-cancer-blood-test-tu-stroma-stic/ - Publication: Healthcare News - Publisher: Connectively (Terkel, Inc.) - Editorial policy: https://healthcarenews.io/editorial-policy/ - AI use: Connectively's automated system wrote this article with AI from a press release issued by Hoag on November 10, 2026, linked under Sources. Statements about the company and its products are the company's. The illustration was generated with AI. The article was assembled and published automatically, without an editor's review. Report errors to corrections@connectively.us. An ovarian cancer blood test developed at Hoag picked up the microscopic fallopian tube lesion that precedes the most common type of the disease, a study in Nature Medicine reported on November 10, 2026. Today that lesion, called STIC, is usually found only by chance during surgery. ## Key points - Hoag researchers led by Dr. Rajan Gogna and Dr. Esha Madan report that blood levels of an RNA molecule, Tu-Stroma, were raised in women with serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (STIC) and in early-stage high-grade serous ovarian cancer. - In a separate validation group, Hoag says the test found STIC in 92.3% of women who had it and correctly cleared 98.2% of healthy women. - The paper measured Tu-Stroma in serum from 506 people and compared it with CA125, the blood marker in use today ([Nature Medicine](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04732-9)). - The study used stored samples from women whose diagnoses were already confirmed; Hoag is planning prospective studies that follow women over time. ## Why does finding ovarian cancer early matter so much? Because stage at diagnosis largely decides survival, and most cases are found late. National Cancer Institute data show 54% of ovarian cancers are diagnosed after they have spread to distant sites, when five-year relative survival is 31.5%, against 91.9% for the 22% found while still confined to where they started ([SEER Cancer Stat Facts](https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/ovary.html)). There is no routine screening test to change that. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends against screening women without symptoms who are not known to carry a high-risk hereditary syndrome, a grade D recommendation ([USPSTF](https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/ovarian-cancer-screening)). Early detection is one strand of the wider shift toward precision oncology that our experts track in [breakthrough trends in drug and therapy development](https://healthcarenews.io/qa/5-breakthrough-trends-in-new-drug-and-therapy-development/). ## What is serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma? STIC is a cluster of abnormal cells in the fallopian tube that comes before high-grade serous ovarian cancer, and it cannot be seen on imaging or picked up by standard cancer blood tests. Clinicians usually discover it in tissue removed during surgery on the tubes or ovaries. How often it turns up depends on who is operated on. A review of nine international studies found STIC in 7.31% of all women having preventive removal of the tubes and ovaries, and in about 6.08% of those with BRCA mutations ([PubMed Central review](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11592719/)). > "Ovarian cancer does not begin the day we discover a tumor. It often begins much earlier, with microscopic changes in the fallopian tubes that we can't see during routine screenings." > > — Dr. Rajan Gogna, Director of Translational Research, Hoag Family Cancer Institute ## How does the Tu-Stroma ovarian cancer blood test work? It measures Tu-Stroma, an RNA molecule that, according to Hoag, is tied to the way cancer cells weaken healthy neighbouring cells to make room to grow. The Nature Medicine paper describes it as a long noncoding RNA carried in tiny vesicles in the blood serum ([Nature Medicine](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04732-9)). Hoag says the eight-year study brought together researchers and clinical samples from several countries. Beyond the 92.3% and 98.2% figures, Hoag says that when the team modeled a high-risk population, about 72% of positive results would be correct and a negative result would be right nearly 100% of the time. The paper itself compares Tu-Stroma with CA125, the standard marker, using the area under the curve (AUC), where 1.0 is perfect separation and 0.5 is chance, and reports that Tu-Stroma was not raised across a set of inflammatory conditions or in other cancers ([Nature Medicine](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04732-9)): | Comparison in the paper | People in each group | Tu-Stroma AUC | Standard marker AUC | |---|---|---|---| | STIC vs healthy controls ([Nature Medicine](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04732-9)) | 43 STIC, 143 controls | 0.99 | 0.59 | | STIC vs benign adnexal masses ([Nature Medicine](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04732-9)) | 43 STIC, 88 benign | 0.99 | 0.31 | | High-grade serous cancer vs healthy controls ([Nature Medicine](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04732-9)) | 232 cancer, 143 controls | 0.99 | 0.96 | | High-grade serous cancer vs benign adnexal masses ([Nature Medicine](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04732-9)) | 232 cancer, 88 benign | 0.98 | 0.84 | ## What could it mean for women with BRCA mutations? Our analysis: the clearest early use is in women whose genes already put them at high risk. Many of them weigh preventive removal of the tubes and ovaries, sometimes before finishing their families and at the price of early menopause, and Hoag says that decision is now guided mostly by inherited risk. > "Today, decisions about preventive surgery are largely guided by inherited risk, without knowing whether precancerous lesions are actually present. Our discovery could eventually provide that missing biological information." > > — Dr. Esha Madan, Principal Investigator and Group Leader, Cell Competition in Tumor Microenvironment Laboratory at Hoag Hoag says Madan's team is also working on ways to stop these lesions from progressing. For clinicians, a marker of this kind fits the broader move toward tailoring prevention to the individual, a shift our experts discuss in [challenges in embracing personalized medicine](https://healthcarenews.io/qa/8-challenges-in-fully-embracing-personalized-medicine/). ## Frequently asked questions ### Can I get the Tu-Stroma test now? Not yet. Hoag describes the long-term goal as a clinically validated blood test and is first planning prospective studies at Hoag and in the wider community. ### Who will the prospective studies include? Hoag says they will enroll women with and without elevated genetic risk of ovarian cancer, collect blood samples and follow participants over time. ### Where was the research published? In Nature Medicine on November 10, 2026, under the title "Blood-based RNA biomarker for the early detection of ovarian cancer". ### Is STIC the same as ovarian cancer? No. STIC is a noninvasive precursor: abnormal cells in the lining of the fallopian tube that have not invaded surrounding tissue, from which high-grade serous ovarian cancer can arise ([Nature Medicine](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04732-9)). ## Sources - [Hoag's press release on the Tu-Stroma blood signal](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/11/10/3399264/0/en/researchers-discover-blood-based-warning-signal-for-ovarian-cancer-at-its-earliest-precancerous-stage.html): press release from Hoag via GlobeNewswire, 10 November 2026. - [Blood-based RNA biomarker for the early detection of ovarian cancer](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04732-9): the peer-reviewed study, Nature Medicine, 10 November 2026. - [Cancer Stat Facts: Ovarian Cancer](https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/ovary.html): stage and survival data from the National Cancer Institute's SEER Program. - [Ovarian Cancer: Screening](https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/ovarian-cancer-screening): the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation. - [Serous Tubal Intraepithelial Carcinoma (STIC): A Review of the Literature on the Incidence at the Time of Prophylactic Surgery](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11592719/): literature review on PubMed Central. - [Hoag Family Cancer Institute](https://www.hoag.org/institute/cancer/): the institute's website.